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• Gareth Southgate knows Euro 2024 must go ‘very, very well’ to keep England job

  Gareth Southgate knows next year’s Euros will have to go extremely well for it to be a “possibility in anybody’s eyes” for him to stay on as England manager.

  The 52-year-old was parachuted into the hotseat following Sam Allardyce’s ignominious exit in 2016 and has gone on to oversee the national team’s best spell since winning the World Cup.

  England reached the 2018 semi-finals before losing the delayed Euro 2020 final in an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy at Wembley.

  There were more signs of progress as the team were edged out by France at last year’s World Cup, but a challenging year meant Southgate had to weigh up whether to see out his contract until 2024.

  The England boss decided to stay on after a week of contemplation following Qatar, but next summer’s European Championship could prove his last finals in charge.

  “My contract is until the December,” Southgate said. “That was always put in place because it would allow everybody reflection time, really.”

  Asked if the Euros would be his last tournament, Southgate said: “Who knows?

  “I think we’ll have to go very, very well for that to be a possibility in anybody’s eyes and that’s fair enough. I’m more than comfortable with that.

  “My aim is to try and win the tournament and everything I do is geared around that and every conversation I have with the players now is geared around that.

  “So, what will happen in the future at the moment it isn’t at the forefront of my mind, but trying to win this European Championship is.”

  England are third favourites with the bookmakers to triumph in Germany next year, and that is all the manager is focused on right now.

  ‘Succession’ is a buzzword thanks to the popular US TV series, but Southgate has not seen the show and was unwilling to talk about potential candidates for a job he cares deeply about.

  “Whatever (input) John (McDermott, Football Association technical director) and everybody else at the FA would like, really,” he said.

  “I’m not precious about it. If I could help in any way, at whatever point. I try to do that now with involvement in the pro licence, with reaching out to English coaches.

  “We’ve had people in to have the odd day here and there with us at training.

  “That’s not my decision but I’d always help English football as much as I can.

  “At whatever point I leave here, hopefully we’ve won something, but if I’m the second most successful I’ll be more than happy to become third very quickly.

  “I joined here to help English football and that will never change for me.”

  England’s immediate focus is taking a giant stride towards Germany by beating Malta and North Macedonia in June, but for a number of players their future is up in the air.

  Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham are subject of widespread speculation, while a lack of game-time is an issue for Southgate’s favourites Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips.

  “There’s potentially a lot of movement with that squad we’ve picked across the summer, but I think it will be later in the summer,” the England boss said.

  “It doesn’t worry me how it plays out. I think as a player you always back yourself. You’ve got to.

  “You’ve got to have the mentality that ‘wherever I go I’m going to force my way into the team’ until such point as which it becomes apparent where ‘maybe I’ve got to go’.

  “And maybe we’ve got a couple in the squad who’ve got that decision to go through in their own minds this summer.”

  That self-confidence has paid dividends for Jack Grealish, who struggled to make the desired impact in his first season at Manchester City.

  But the 27-year-old has come on leaps and bounds this term under Pep Guardiola, who Southgate considers the best coach in the world.

  “I’m a huge admirer,” the England boss said. “He knows that, I’ve told him.

  “Of course it’s been brilliant for our players to work with him and they have learned individually, tactically and, probably as much as anything, that mentality.

  “You mention Jack, he’s played properly, I would say, in this period. You know, against Real Madrid with and without the ball.

  “That wasn’t the case two-and-a-half years ago, if I’m honest, so there’s been a lot of progress.”

• Graham Alexander keen to bring success to MK Dons after landing head coach role

  MK Dons have appointed Graham Alexander as their new head coach.

  The 51-year-old former Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford and Motherwell manager replaces Mark Jackson, who was sacked earlier this month after the club were relegated to Sky Bet League Two.

  Alexander, who will be assisted by ex-Bury boss Chris Lucketti, told the Dons’ official website: “I’m grateful to the club for showing faith in me and providing me with this fantastic opportunity.

  “This is, of course, a club with great potential, though we know we need to win on the pitch to justify everything we’ve got off it – that’s what me and Chris are here to do.

  “That will require a lot of hard work but we are both committed and driven to try and bring success to MK Dons.”

  Former Preston, Burnley and Scotland defender Alexander left Motherwell by mutual consent last summer after their Europa Conference League exit.

  He has twice won promotion as a manager with previous clubs Fleetwood and Salford.

  Dons chairman Pete Winkelman added: “This is a start of a new chapter for us.

  “Graham ticked all the boxes for us following a lengthy and thorough process, and he brings with him the football experience and success, both as a player and as a manager, that we demanded of our next head coach.”

• Darren Moore impressed by Barnsley boss Michael Duff ahead of play-off final

  Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore believes Michael Duff has done a “magnificent job” at League One play-off final opponents Barnsley.

  Both managers meet on Monday for the all-South Yorkshire clash at Wembley, where the winners will celebrate promotion to the Championship.

  Wednesday progressed to the final after staging a thrilling second-leg comeback against Peterborough, overturning a 4-0 aggregate deficit, while Barnsley earned their place in less dramatic circumstances by squeezing past Bolton 2-1 after two legs.

  Moore was full of praise for the job Duff has done.

  “I’ve known Duffers a little while now over the course of our footballing careers and now into management at the level that we are,” Moore told a pre-match press conference.

  “Am I surprised with the work he’s done at Barnsley? No.

  “Why am I not surprised? Because he’s thorough, he’s meticulous with his work, he’s a worker, he sees the game, he understands the game and he’s very astute with his approach in the game in terms of how he sets his team up and understanding the strengths and weaknesses that his team has.

  “So if you embody that with where he’s at, it shows the level of consistency, he’s got wonderful leadership qualities, he’s clear and methodical with his approach and he’s clear with his views.

  “He’s done a magnificent job to go in there and steady the ship and not only steady the ship, but give the whole place belief in a continuation.

  “Credit to him and the work he’s done this season, it really has been a tremendous bit of work.

  “As managers we can appreciate the work that we’ve done over the course of the season and I’ve got to say to him he’s done a magnificent job, but he knows it because I told him myself after we played them.

  “Credit to him, we go head-to-head again at Wembley on Monday and our two teams will battle it out to try and get that final spot that’ll take the team into the Championship.”

  Wednesday finished the season third in League One with 96 points, while Barnsley secured a fourth-placed finish 10 points behind them.

  Duff suggested in his press conference that the Tykes are going into the clash as underdogs, but Moore insisted Monday’s game has no favourites.

  “He’s going to see it as that, but I’m too grey to suggest that,” the Owls boss added.

  “What we have got is a final, we’ve got two teams competing in the final, two teams from Yorkshire, two local teams that see and know enough about each other.

  “What we will do is focus on the game. Will I predict anybody as the favourite? No because there never are in a final.

  “So I can blow that one out the water and say let’s just focus on the game.

  “We approach the game as we have done all season with detail, with precision, with respect and we look to get about our work in the right manner.”